New Easter Tradition

As some of you may have read, this September we lost my Great Uncle Don and the last few holidays have felt pretty sad without him being here.  However, Easter was HIS big holiday.  My family always went to his house and spent time with my mom's cousins (his kids) and all their kids.  And trust, there is a ton of them.  This would be the first Easter I have ever spent without him.  Even if my parents were out of town because of a Final Four or I was at college, I always made the trip back. 

The location is pretty unique because Uncle Don owned a piece of land and gave all his kids several acres to either build a house on or sell.  Soon after he died, his kids sold his house, but we still spent Easter right next door at his daughter Susan's house.  I knew he was hanging out while we were finding eggs and eating our traditional early dinner. 

I thought this would be a good day to honor him so I must admit, I stole this idea from my super sweet a.k.a the best family photographer in Kansas City, soon to be Tulsa friend Bethany.  I changed it up a little, but the heart of it is her idea and I cannot take the credit.  E and I wrote Uncle Don special messages on balloons and then sent them up to heaven.  Mine may have included a little Rock Chalk and a few miss yous and although E's was a tad on the scribbly side, I am pretty sure it said something about him wearing a KU hat that day just like his Uncle Don and saying something about how he wishes he could see him start T-Ball this year, but knows he'll be watching from the best seat in the house.  I mean, I think that's what a two year old would say...right?

Well, I hope this did our buddy justice and I am thinking it may be a new family tradition to honor Everett's "stand-in" Great Grandpa.



Mom vs. the Marathon: Update

1.  I have officially registered for my first marathon.  Uh oh.
2.  Official training starts in June, but I have been getting ready for swimsuit season by taking shorter runs about 5 days a week.  Looking forward to how much running I will be doing within the next few months is extremely overwhelming so I really try not to think about it.
3.  I am obsessed with this magazine-

Reading this makes me feel like a real life runner instead of a wannabe.  I love the true stories and reading about different races and then dreaming of running them one day.  We can all dream, right?

So today I get home from my run and skim it while I am getting ready and run across an article about an interview with supermodel Christy Turlington about her first marathon.  She says, and I quote, "I felt good through mile 18.  In the Bronx, I needed to walk.  I gave birth twice without drugs, and the last three miles were close to that experience.

Holy s#%&!

E Plays Soccer, Parties and Plays

Just a few randoms...

Our best buddy Brady has been playing on our soccer team for 3 whole seasons now!  Here are some pictures from last season with Coach KC (who happened to play basketball at KU:).  Love us some soccer practice!

 Having fun at Brady's 2nd birthday party at Wonderscope

 What's up Cookie Monster cupcake?

 Trying to get a picture with all the kids.  I think pictures like this are hilarious.  The girls are always standing like perfect angels and the boys are hitting and poking eachother.  In this case, the kids were trying to escape.

 First time bowling at our neighbor Ty's birthday party.  I was SHOCKED when Everett waited his turn every time and loved every second.  His mom enjoyed the Justin Beibs jams!

 Look at those little bowling shoes!

 Playdate with all our Woodland Elementary buddies.  Everett is getting his baby brother/baby sister fix.  Yes Courntey, this is enough for him.  Thanks for letting us borrow Sammy.

Operation: Renovation Part I 1/2

Okay, so this isn't really a reno, more of an addition to are kitchen in progress. We currently have a built in desk that we use as a "storage" stop. Since my parents bought us a new laptop for Christmas, I have been wanting to use the desk to work on the computer. Note: I am currently typing at my kitchen table. Whoops. Anyway, I wanted to re-do an old chair to make it work with our kitchen. The new paint color is a light grey and I am kind of going for a grey and yellow pallet. It took me a while to get started with this one, but viola!

  

This is a before shot.  The fabric on the chair was pretty old and crusty and the wood was dingy and dirty.

 I found a piece of foam and cut it to fit on top of the cushion.

 I glued it on with some spray adhesive and let it dry.

I spray painted the chair with a low luster black spray paint.  It actually took about four coats because the wood kept absorbing the paint.

I stapled the fabric onto the cushion thanks to some help from my husband.  You have to pull it really tight to make it look good.

Finished product!